A few years ago my spouse and I got electric toothbrushes. Since then, every night before bed we both go into the bathroom to brush our teeth together. As we do, the tiny motor that powers my brush sends a vibration into my head, soothing my eardrums with a constant tone. Most nights, I really can’t help but hum along. On top of that drone, I’ll start to hum melodies, whatever comes to mind in my tired state. Not really caring about what comes next or how long I spend on each note, just following along with whatever feels right. One night, the melody stayed in my head long after I had gone to bed. The song of a passing moment while doing something mundane. I decided to jot down the notes on a sticky pad on my bedside table. A drone. A melody. A harmony. A rhythm. I put my pencil down and fell asleep. That sticky note became the foundation of Night Songs.

I tell you that story to highlight something important about melodies: They surround us in every moment — in the car, at your desk, at the dinner table, and yes, even brushing your teeth. Most are transitory, unnoticed, and unremembered. There’s something precious in that fleeting existence. In fact, perhaps this piece can be seen as sacrilegious from a certain viewpoint. Trapping a momentary joy in ink and paper, removing the sacred ephemerality it once held. I can understand that view, but I must say I prefer another perspective. By taking this song, expanding it as I have, and sharing it with you all, it creates a new experience. Maybe for those who hear this piece, on this night, in this place, with these people, they can find comfort in knowing that this one moment exists just here and now. It is unique, but it is not special. Moments like this happen to everyone every day. Take notice, and find comfort in that.

I was thrilled when I-Jen asked me to compose a piece for this concert. I have very fond memories of composing for the Percussion Ensemble back when I was a student. I was especially excited to write for the returning alumni, many of whom I had the privilege to play in the ensemble alongside while we were at UVA and many others I have the pleasure to have my first performance with tonight. This is by far the largest percussion ensemble I have ever composed. With 38 performers in total, our expansion of the performance beyond the stage and into the audience is not only a necessity for such a large group, but also creates a more immersive experience for the audience. Because of its scale, I know this piece is a massive undertaking, and I truly appreciate all the effort each player has put into creating this performance. My hope is that everyone here tonight, both performers and audience alike, will find joy in this piece — joy in this ephemeral experience together.

Night Songs was commissioned by the UVA Percussion Ensemble for their 20th Anniversary Concert to be premiered on April 5th, 2025.

Links: Score Premiere Event

Sudoku is a percussion ensemble written to be performed alongside the solving of a sudoku puzzle in real time. As the puzzle moves closer and closer to its solution, the percussionists will read the sudoku grid like a piece of music. Each performer is assigned a number between 1 and 9, and the placement of their number in the puzzle changes how they play.

Just as every sudoku puzzle has a unique solution, it also has a unique sound that is uncovered in real time as the piece unfolds. More than that, the way the solver approaches the solution has a dramatic impact on how the performers travel toward this solution sound. I'd encourage any audience member to not only follow along in the solving of the puzzle, but to also reflect on the solution's impact on the soundscape. 

Links: Score

Peano is based on the Peano Curve, the first space-filling curve discovered by Giuseppe Peano in 1890. A space-filling curve is a continuous line with two endpoints that travels through every possible point in a unit square. It's a strange and wonderful way to imagine weaving a 1-dimensional line into the tapestry of a 2-dimensional space.

This piece imagines the mapping of the Peano Curve onto the performance stage. As the Peano Curve gradually travels from one end-point to the other, the listener travels from the beginning of the piece to the end, and the performer travels from one corner of the stage to its opposite. Percussion instruments, record players, amplifiers, and lights are placed across the stage, revealing the progress of the performer, and highlighting moments of meditative reflection on the relationships between the visual and sonic textures of each implement.

It is my intention with this piece to impart the following lesson: Even the most simple concepts can reveal incredible complexity when expanded beyond their preconceived limitations.

Links: Score

Canvas is an interactive installation that fosters community collaboration in the creation of a singular, evolving artwork. Over the course several days, participants engage in a communal painting process, with each individual contribution adding to the evolving visual piece. Concurrently, the live video feed of the painting is sonified through a MaxMSP patch, generating a complex and dynamic sonic landscape that is inextricably linked to the visual art. Through this immersive sensory experience, Canvas offers a unique opportunity to explore the intersection art, technology, and community engagement. For this version of the installation, the Peabody Institute's graduating class of 2023 was invited to contribute to the piece over the course of one week.

MaxMSP Patch - Michael Mills

Production - Cameron Church

Rigging - Cameron Church, Sebastian Suarez-Solis

Concept - Cameron Church, Sebastian Suarez-Solis, Mary Price

Editing - Cameron Church

Sine Post is a site-specific installation that engages with the fundamental nature of sound to create an immersive sensory experience. The environment is composed of a sequence of closely related, slowly-changing sine waves, dynamically modulating in relation to each other to form an ever-evolving sonic tapestry. As you walk through the space, the subtly shifting relationships between each tone interact with the architecture and acoustics of the environment to produce a unique auditory experience. As you walk the path, pay close attention to the dynamic relationships between the many tones.

Links: MaxMSP Patch

Composition - Cameron Church

Production - Cameron Church

Rigging - Cameron Church, Sebastian Suarez-Solis

Camerawork - Sebastian Suarez-Solis

Acting - Tyler Jordan

Editing - Cameron Church

8337#0\/3|\|'5 9.57# is a collaboration between Ryo Hasegawa (hasegawaryo.com) and Critical Error — Andrew Faulkenberry (andrewfaulkenberry.com), Cameron Church (cameronchurch.com), Mary Price (marypricecompositions.com), Michael Mills (tcpublish.com), and Sebastian Suarez-Solis (cbassuarez.com)

Live electronics patch -  Michael Mills

Actors - Andrew Faulkenberry, Cameron Church, Michael Mills

Sound - Andrew Faulkenberry, Cameron Church, Mary Price, Michael Mills

Editing - Cameron Church

Duet for Concert Bowls and Kitchen Viola was written on the request of the Piedmont Duo, Ayn Balija (viola) and I-Jen Fang (percussion). Since the pair often travel for their performances, my hope was to limit the scale of the percussion setup as much as possible, while still allowing for a diverse sound world. My solution was an exploration of metal mixing bowls. A set of mixing bowls produces an incredibly broad range of timbres and pitches that are fascinating and wonderful on their own. Comparing and contrasting this unconventional instrument with the more common sounds of a viola reveals a great many intersections between their otherwise unique textures. With the help of Ayn and I-Jen, who are both wonderful collaborators, I was able to create a broad color palette of sounds for this work. By employing a variety of experimental techniques, my hope with this piece is to illuminate the fascinating and wonderful domain of sounds shared by these instruments.

Links: Score

Performed by the Piedmont Duo (Ayn Balija and I-Jen Fang).

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Links: VCV Rack Patch Max Patch

Performed, filmed, and edited by Cameron Church. Audio in VCV Rack. Video processing in Max 8.

This piece was created synchronously with a painting of the same name (seen at the beginning and end of this performance and in the thumbnail) by Baltimore artist Genesis Garita. Both works came together during a four-hour collaboration event between the Peabody Institute and the Schuler School of Fine Arts in spring of 2023.

Links: VCV Rack Patch

Performed by Cameron Church. Artwork and inspiration by Genesis Garita.

Percussion Solo for 200 Hands is an acousmatic work of contemporary percussion music that marries acoustic sounds with multichannel spatialization in a uniquely immersive experience. At its core, this piece is a study in texture and timbre. Cameron Church employs a wide variety of percussive instruments, ranging from the traditional drums and cymbals to more unconventional objects such as cigar boxes, chains, and steel pipes. The resulting soundscape is a rich tapestry of colors and shapes, inviting the listener to explore the ever-evolving musical landscape. By distributing various instruments throughout the multichannel sound field, Cameron aims to create an enthralling sound world that fully envelopes the listener. This approach allows for a heightened sense of immersion and intimacy with the performer, as well as an enhanced appreciation for the intricacies and great variety of percussion music. This piece is also a fantastic demonstration of Ben Giroux's talents as both the performer of the work and as the audio engineer who brought the piece to life in the 5.1 surround sound environment.

Links: Score

Recorded Performers: Ben Giroux (bengirouxpercussion.com)

Electric 46 (2023)

Electric hammered dulcimer duet

“Folksy. Quaint. Uncompl-zzzrtschtzz単純несложный بسيطシンプル”

- David Carlton Adams

“A ████████ ████████ is a musical instrument with a sounding board or box, typically trapezoidal in shape, over which strings of graduated length are stretched, played by being ██████ with ████████ ███████.”

- Cameron Church

Written and performed collaboratively by David Carlton Adams (davidcarltonadams.com) and Cameron Church. This performance is from Cameron's Master's recital in Griswold Hall at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University on February 17th, 2023.

encore (2022)

Social experiment for the concert hall and 3 actors

Congrats on a new piece...

encore is a reimagining of the Milgram Experiment into a concert hall setting, performed for the purpose of deconstructing the societal expectations ingrained into audience etiquette. The audience takes on the role of the unsuspecting "Teacher" from the experiment, constantly pushed by social protocol to enact, in this case through applause, the cold repetition of destructive acts. For the performance to resolve itself, the audience must realize their role as an instigator in a harmful cycle and work together to end it. But even after they've understood their agency in this system, would an audience instead choose to keep watching? Would you?

Links: Score

Recorded Performers for both performances: (from left to right at table) Cameron Church, Sebastian Suarez-Solis (cbassuarez.com), and Tyler Jordan (tylerjordancomposer.com). Audience by The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University.

Pentomino (2022)

Open instrumentation for 1 or more performers

John Conway was a mathematician known for his love of games and puzzles. Among his many achievements, he was most well-known for inventing the Game of Life in 1970. This cellular automaton aimed to describe how complex forms of life can evolve from a simple initial state. In this simulation, any given square cell on a grid can either be alive or dead. Between each generation, interactions between cells and their neighbors determine which cells die off from overpopulation or isolation, and which cells are born anew. Throughout his life, Conway used his love for games, puzzles, and magic tricks to uncover new frontiers in mathematics and inspire countless others to follow in his work. Conway died on Saturday, April 11, 2020, from complications related to COVID-19. He was 82.

I was not lucky enough to know John Conway personally, but I had the pleasure of seeing him once. I found him solving a small wooden puzzle in the halls of Princeton in 2017, referencing a small book he co-authored as he toyed with the blocks. To me, Conway embodied a way of thinking about the world through the process of play. I’m always inspired by his exploratory approach to problem solving. A methodology which is infinitely adaptable.

Creation, Solution, Translation, Dissolution, Reproduction. Simplicity holds the power to reveal great complexity.

Special thanks to Sebastian Suarez-Solis (cbassuarez.com) for their help on this piece.

Links: Score

Recorded by Cameron Church (puzzle, piano, video editing) and Sebastian Suarez-Solis (puzzle, viola da gamba, director of photography)

game. (2022)

Actor and mixed quintet

This is a piece about doing too much...

Each

musician

has a game

in front of them.

Each game has two

states that affect what

and how the musician will

play: one state occurs when the

game is well maintained, and the other

state occurs when the game falls into disrepair.

------------------------------------------------------------------

As our subject seeks out more games to add to their

ever-growing list of responsibilities, they realize far

too late that they cannot maintain everything.

There exists such a thing as too much.

---------------------------------------------

This is a piece about games,

and about how there

are too many for

one person

to enjoy

them

all.

Links: Score

Upper video recorded by Ensemble Dal Niente (dalniente.com) in Theatro São Pedro during the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival (spccfestival.com)

Lower video performed by David Carlton Adams (electric guitar, davidcarltonadams.com), Max Eidinoff (piano, maxeidinoff.com), Ryo Hasegawa (conductor, hasegawaryo.com), Tyler Jordan (actor, tylerjordancomposer.com), Alberto Macias (cello), Luis Ozoria (trumpet, luisozoriamusic.com), and Mary Price (french horn, marypricecompositions.com). This performance is from Cameron's Master's recital in Griswold Hall at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University on February 17th, 2023.

Clockwork (2022)

Orchestra

99 Northeast Regional (2022)

Tenor saxophone and percussion duet

Kīlauea (2022)

Viola solo 

Crits and Errors is a process piece combining sound, performance, and gameplay using the worldwide classic game of Chutes and Ladders. Players traverse a numbered grid of 100 squares, according to dice rolls, with the objective of navigating their game piece from 0 to 100, helped by climbing "ladders" but hindered by falling down "chutes". Using Max to assign pitch and timbral values to game spaces and players, Crits and Errors combines musical aleatory with real-life gestures and sheer luck. The piece is a sonic exploration of unpremeditated harmonies and frequency progression.

Links: Max Patch

Recorded Performers: the Peabody Laptop Ensemble (Colton Arnold, Cameron Church, Maxzavier Guo, Heng Lin, Nikko Musuraca, and Anson Tong)

Collatz (2021)

Flute and crotales duet 

Morning (2021)

Percussion quintet

Morning was written for the UVA Percussion Ensemble of Spring 2021.

Links: Score

Recorded Performers: Cameron Church, Hayden French, Leah Baetcke, Olivia Hale, and William Simpson 

Uno for video conference (2020)

Laptop ensemble for the UNO® card game

Uno is built around the card game UNO and was originally written to be performed live and in person. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the necessity for social isolation, I rewrote the piece so that it could be performed over video conference call and without the need for any equipment other than a computer and an internet connection. The Max patch translates UNO’s set of simple rules and repurposes them to create a piece of indeterminate music that is built around the interactions between performers. Every sound in this piece is created live by the performers when they play a card or an action of another player affects them. Each player is able to play Uno online with one another while streaming their audio to create a sound space that evolves with every card played. While you listen, enjoy the game and the dialogue of sound created by the choices and actions of the performers.

This piece requires performers to use the program Max 8 which can be safely downloaded for free here: https://cycling74.com/downloads. 

Links: Max Patch

Recorded Performers for upper recording: Becky Brown, Jamie Clay, Bob DuCharme, Cameron Church, I-Jen Fang, and Nelly Zevitz

Recorded Performers for lower recording: Indigo Breza, Cameron Church, and Joshua Holtzman 

This is the original version of Uno before it evolved into a piece for video conference. Unlike the newer edition, this piece is entirely acoustic and is intended to be played in person with a physical deck of UNO® cards. The recommended number of performers for this piece ranges from 2-10.

🙈🙉🙊 (3 Monkeys) is a piece about communication and how environmental constraints won’t stop us ⎯ they will motivate us to evolve. In this piece, three performers fill the roles of the three wise monkeys: 

🙈 Mizaru who sees no evil, 

🙉 Kikazaru who hears no evil, and 

🙊 Iwazaru who speaks no evil. 

At certain points throughout the piece, individual performers will lose their sense of sight, hearing, or their ability to speak while continuing to maintain a visual and sonic dialogue with the other performers. This piece is an updated version of 3 Monkeys which has moved from the physical space of a concert stage to the digital space of a video call. This new environment brings with it new opportunities to explore and elaborate on the themes of communication and interpretation. In addition to providing a backdrop for the colorful graphics, the medium of a video conference call helps the focus on each individual sense be more precise. As you watch and listen to this performance, I recommend that you follow along with the conversation between performers. Try to see patterns of communication and witness the evolution of the language as it develops.

Links: Score My Analysis

Recorded Performers: Alex Christie, Becky Brown, and Cameron Church 

This is the original version of 3 Monkeys before it evolved into a piece for video call. This piece was written to be performed in person without the use of electronics.

Links: Score My Analysis

Thunderheads (2020)

Percussion solo and electronics

The word “lagom” is Swedish for “just the right amount”. It’s a life philosophy about balance and mindfulness. In that spirit, Lagom hopes to provide the listener with exactly what they want to hear, not too much and not too little. This piece offers a simple ABA structure with exciting variations on phrasing and meter that keep the piece engaging from beginning to end. Throughout Lagom, individual performers are given several soloistic moments that emphasize the strengths of their instrument. This piece isn’t meant to do anything crazy, it hopes to follow the lagom mentality, one that’s free of extremes and focused on balance. When you listen to this piece, remember to take a mental break and get into the mindset of Lagom.

Links: Score

Recorded Performers: Cameron Church, Edward Lue, Jack Engel, William Simpson 

D’etat (2019)

Laptop quartet for the Coup® card game

This piece is built around the card game Coup. This game is based on the interactions between players. Everyone playing has 2 cards which they keep private. These cards determine the actions they can take during the game. However, any player can lie and take any action they choose if they think they can get away with it. Your traditional game of Coup will involve a lot of talking while declaring actions, blocking players, or challenging a claim to a card. In this piece, the conversation is brought from speech to the realm of pitch and timbre. Every action taken in this game triggers a change in the sounds produced by each player. At the same time, many actions will frequently warrant a response from the other players resulting in a dialogue of sounds. The choices of each player cause the piece to unfold in a new way every time it is played. As you experience the piece, don’t worry about understanding the rules of the game. Instead, focus on the sounds and their interactions as if listening to a conversation taking place in front of you. 

This piece requires performers to to use the program Max 8 which can be safely downloaded for free here: https://cycling74.com/downloads.

Links: Max Patch My Analysis

Recorded Performers: Brendan Burke, Cameron Church, Indy Breza, Reza Mirzaiee

Musical Chairs (2019)

Percussion quintet

Musical Chairs needs almost no introduction. Everyone has played the game before. You walk around and around a circle of chairs until the music suddenly stops and you sit down in a chair as fast as you can. Whoever can’t sit fast enough is out of the game. Then you remove a chair, start up the music again, and keep going until you have a winner. That’s exactly this piece… except now the music is live and the chairs are part of the music too! 

This is not your typical percussion ensemble ⎯ the primary instrument in Musical Chairs is the chair. Using the elimination-based format of the original game, this piece aims to explore every possible sound a chair can make. As players are gradually removed from the game and added to the mallet section, new approaches to playing the chairs are constantly introduced until a winner is finally revealed. Each round is carefully choreographed so that performers are placed in just the right position around the chairs at any given moment of a round. Before the piece begins try to guess which player is going to be the winner, then sit back and enjoy a game of musical chairs.

Links: Score

Recorded Performers: Abel Ruiz, Cameron Church, Darrion Chandler, I-Jen Fang, and Spencer Harris

Figment (2019)

Flute duet     

17th Canvas (2019)

Mixed quartet for flute, oboe, vibraphone, and crotales

Movement (2019)

Percussion sextet for 3 marimbas

Links: Score

Partition (2018)

Piano trio  

Acrobat (2018)

Percussion octet

Links: Score

Criticaster Discourse (2017)

Clarinet quintet 

I have a lot of great memories going out to see movies with friends and family, and sometime after the show we would go out to dinner. Dinner discussion tended to revolve around our evening’s entertainment. We each discussed our likes and dislikes of the film, arguing our points with sharpened opinions about cinematography and foreshadowing in the plot and so on, when, in the end, none of us at the table are professional film critics. So professionally speaking, we really don’t know what we’re talking about.

These memories are what give this piece it’s name: Criticaster Discourse, criticaster meaning a false critic, and discourse meaning discussion. As you listen to this piece, you will notice this false intellectual tone as well as observe the melody flow around the ensemble mimicking a conversation. One section of the ensemble might introduce a thought, another continue it, and yet another conclude the idea. The conversation might move on to different subjects and then come back later on. As you listen, imagine the discussion going on and try to follow along with each new idea. 

Links: Score